Wearing apparel having permanent creases therein



Patented Sept. 14, 1948 WEARING APPAREL HAVING PERMANENT CREASES THEREIN Hans Meyer, Richmond, England No Drawing. Application January 29, 1946, Se-

rial No. 644,197. In Great Britain January 7,

Claims. (Cl. 2-243) This invention relates to wearing apparel having permanent creases therein and to a method of producing and maintaining such creases in wearing apparel, and. although particularly usetul for creases longitudinally down the legs of trousers, is nevertheless applicable generally to other germents in which it may be desirable to provide permanent creases. In the case of trou-- sers, moreover, it prevents the objectionable "bagging at the knees.

It has been proposed to secure creases in garments by using a tape with adhesive strips along y its edges, to be attached to the inner side of the crease and some distance away from the crease. the idea being that the'uncoated centre part of the tape between the two adhesive strips should relieve the crease from any lateral strain by being shorter than that piece of material which it is intended to provide with the crease, This method,

however, does not give satisfactory results. It

merely serves to protect creases against lateral tion against this is provided by the aforementioned method. A further drawback is'the limita tlon oi the method. inherent in its nature, to creases with their small angle on the inside of the garment, making it impossible to use it, for example. for pleats on ladies skirts. I

- According to the present invention wearing apparel is provided having one or more permanent creases and having attached to the inside thereof at the lin or lines of the creases one or more strips or tapes containing a water-insoluble thermo-plastic material which is softened and/or rendered adhesive at a temperature below the scorching point of the material to which it is attached.

The present invention also includes a method for the manufacture of wearing apparel having one or more permanent creases which comprises placing upon the wrong side of the material of th wearing apparel a strip or tape containing a water-insoluble thermoplastic material with the thermoplastic material in contact with the material of the wearing apparel and covering the line of the crease to be produced, attaching the strip or tape to thematerial of the wearing apparel by 2 heat and pressure, the thermoplastic material be ing softened and/or rendered adhesive at a temperature below the'scorching point of the material of the wearing apparel, cooling or allowing the assemblage to cool and creasing the material of the wearing apparel and the strip or tape longitudinally with respect to the strip or tape.

Preferably the tape is placed with its centre covering the line in which the crease is desired. On cooling, a firm bond between the tape and the material is produced. The material is then folded along the longitudinal axis of the tape which. a'ccording to the type of crease desired, canbe either on the inside or the outside of the crease, and ironed.

The invention is applicable to wearing apparel made of the usual textile materials, such as woolen onworsted material, silk, rayon, cotton. nylon and union fabrics.

It has been found that creases produced by this method are practically permanent (and the term permanent as applied herein to creases includes creases which are practicall permanent). as they are firmly bonded with the tape which, owing to its thermoplastic properties, always reverts to the shape given to it under heat and pressure. Thus,

for example, a trouser crease can completely flatten out over a kent knee and will still subsequently revert to its former angle, For the same reason, humidity or wetness will have no influence on the permanency oi. the crease. As it is immaterial whether the tape is applied to the inside or the outside of creases, the method lends itself equally well to the forming of pleats on ladies skirts, and other creases with their small angle on the outside of the garment.

I1 the tape is to be attached to an existing crease it is of. advantage to crease it longitudinally prior to its application, thus making it fall easily into its correct position and securing it by ironing. In order to weaken the constructural stiffness of the assemblage the strip or tape may be perforated either over its whole area or only along its edges. I

The strip or tape may be formed in several ways. According to one method, one side of a substantially non-thermoplastic material. for example, cotton. is coated with a solution or dispersion of a water-insoluble thermoplastic material, dried at a temperature sufficient to expel volatile solvents or water used in th aforesaid solutions or dispersions, and then cut to the desired shape and size, for example, to form single tapes, each 30" long and A" wide, or a length o f tape V wide. According to another method, the

. 3 tapes may be formed by uniting one layer of a substantially non-thermoplastic material, for example, cotton, with a pre-formed layer of afllm or of a fabric consisting at least in part of a wafter-in'soluble thermoplastic material and cutting the united layers to the desired shape to form tapes. According to a further embodiment of the invention they may be formed from a fabric originally containing yarns or filaments of 'a waterinsoluble thermoplastic material so woven or knitted thatthe same are exposed onthe back, and cutting the fabric into the desired size and shape to form single tapes, or a length of tape.

The softening range of the water-insoluble thermoplastic material will be under 160C. and preferably over 110 C. It may be, for example,

polymerised methyl methacrylate, polymers of Example 1 A cotton fabric is coated on one side by means of squeeze-rollers with a solution containing parts by weight of the resin obtained by the copolymerisation of 40% of vinyl acetate and 60% of vinylchloride, in 20 parts by weight of acetone, 10 parts by weight of butyl acetate, 4 parts by weight of ethyl lactate, 3 parts by weight of methoxyglycolacetyl ricinoleate, and 3 parts by weight of butoxyglycol phthalate. The fabric is dried at a temperature of 90 C. and cut into tapes, each 30" long and wide. The tapes are placed, coated side downwards, on the wrong side of trouser creases and subjected to pressure at a temperature of 130 C. On cooling a firm bond between the tapes and the material is thus produced. As a final step the trousers are then turned, folded with the tapes on the inside of the folds and ironed, making sure that the creases of the folds are along thelongitudinal axes of the tapes.

The creases thus formed possess a normal unbacked appearance, but are maintained practi-,- cally indefinitely.

. Example 2 A fabric the warp of which consists of plasticised polyvinyl acetate fibres, the web consisting of cotton fibres, is assembled with a cotton fabric, of a substantially similar size. An aqueous acetone solution, containing approximately 40% of acetone, is applied to the cotton fabric, and the assembly is united under pressure at a temperature of 50 to 60 C. after which it is cut into tapes, each 30" long and /4" wide. The tapes are attached to articles of wearing apparel to provide permanent creases in the manner de-. scribed in Example" 1.

It will be understood that, instead of combining the fabric containing the thermoplastic ma. terial with vthe cotton fabric by means of solvent, pressure and moderate heat, the combining may also take place by rendering either or both fabrics adhesive by means of a water-soluble or other adhesive, suitable to hold the layers togethe in handling.

Example 3 A fabric in which are employed mixed yam containing approximately 40% of filaments of cellulose acetate (in the'manufacture of which has been incorporated a water-insoluble plasticiser such as diethyl phthalate or dimethyl phthalate) and approximately 80% of cotton fibres, is cut into tapes of a suitable size. On the application of heat and pressure the tapes will adhere firmly to the garments to which they will be attached to produce permanent creases. In order to assist the melting or softening of the cellulose acetate, a volatile solvent for the cellulose acetate, and a plasticiser may be present during the application of heat and pressure, a suitable mixture being 92% of acetone and 8% of diethyl phthalate.

It will be understood that, instead of using a solvent for the cellulose acetate, a latent solvent can be employed, that is to say, a volatile liquid which remains inactive at ordinary temperature,

but is capable of softening the cellulose acetate under the action of heat, for example, ethyl alco-'- hol or methyl alcohol. If desired, the latent solvent may be used in aqueous solution, an effective mixture being one ,of 70% of ethyl alcohol, 22% of water, and 8% of triacetin. This method has the advantage of facilitating the handling of the tapes up to the point where they are attached to the garments, since the softening action'of the latent solvent takes place only upon the application of heat.

The term strip as used in the appende claims includes tape.

What we claim is:

1. Wearing apparel'having a permanent crease in the fabric thereof, which comprises a strip of non-thermo-plastic, non-adhesive material having one side thereof provided with a water-insoluble thermoplastic materialwhich becomes adhesive at a temperature below the scorching point of said fabric, the thermoplastic side of said strip being heat and pressure secured to the inner surface of the fabric where the crease is to be formed, the fabric and strip being creased Wheat and pressure longitudinally with respect tosaid strip and intermediate the longitudinal edges thereof and said'crease having the capacity of flattening out and returning to creased condition after eachsuch flattening out and being unaffected by moisture,

2. Wearing apparel having a permanent crease in the fabric thereof. which comprises a strip of non-thermoplastic, non-adhesive material containing interwoven filaments of water-insoluble thermoplastic material exposed on one side of the strip, said. thermoplastic material becoming pressure longitudinally with respect to' said strip and intermediate the longitudinal edges thereof and said crease having the capacity of flattening out and returning to creased condition after' each such flattening out and being unaffected by moisture.

3. Wearing apparel of the character defined by claim 1 in which thestrip of non-thermoplastic, non-adhesive material having one side thereof provided with a water-insoluble thermoplastic material is perforated to effect a weakening of the structural strength ofsuch strip so that it can be more easily creased.

4. Wearing apparel of the character defined r 6 by claim 1 in which the strip of non-thermonon-thermoplastic material united in race-toplastic, non-adhesive material having one side face contact with a preformed layer of the said thereof provided with a water-insoluble, thermowater-insoluble, thermoplastic material.

plastic material is composed oi non-thermoplas- HANS MEYER. tic. cellulosic material coated on one side with 5 said water-insoluble thermoplastic material REFERENCES CITED which has been applied thereto vehicle and The following references are of record in the. Xrom which the vehicle has been removed. me of this patent:

5. Wearing apparel of the character defined by 7 claim 1 in which the strip of non-thermoplastic. 10 U STATES PATENTs non-adhesive material having one side thereof Number Name m provided with a water-insoluble, thermoplastic 1153.352 stmbemer Aim 4, 1939 material is composed of a separate strip of the 2,394,532 slimmer Feb. 12' 1946 

